Whats best? A dark color or light on the bottom of a bait??

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Hi there, just wondering if some of you Muskie fisherman can help me out here. Whats the best color for the bottom side of a topwater bait? Is it a dark color or a light color. I have been told by a few that black is the best or for second it would be florescent Orange. Your help will be much appreciated. Thanks Ken Schmitz

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I like a bait with a natural white/off white belly mostly. It makes the most sense to me since virtually all bait fish have a white belly. However, there are probably times when the water clarity is such that a red/chartreuse belly may be more effective. The only time I go for a black belly is on topwater baits since black is likely to produce a better profile for predators approaching from below.

Jed

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hi ken. here on st clair the rule of thumb is clean waters wh/belly dark or dirty yellow belly. for natural baits as 9 dollar bass , baby bass and such we use a creme wh/ belly. rember musky can not see down only up and there vision they cannot see dead ahead

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Ken, I'm not a muskie fisherman however I would try painting a sideways design so that your lure looks like a dying fish atop the water. As for color I wonder if it really matters? I see a lot of lures that are not even close to natural coloring, there's one with black yellow and red stripes how natural is that?

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I would agree with Cheesehead. I have usually seen this on glider type baits as opposed to twitch, jerk, topwaters, etc. I haven't used the sideways painted baits alot, so no opinion on their success yet.

I will say it is on my radar to build and paint a few using this method. Wanted to build a few smaller versions for bass. That way I can check their success rate across a couple of species.

Spinner

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Thanks for the replies everyone. From what I have gathered so far is that black or a dark color is best for a topwater as the fish can see the silhouette of the bait better than if it is white or a light color. More opinions are welcome. Ken Schmitz